Source Code 1994 March/Source_Code_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_March_1994.iso/compsrcs/misc/volume30/astrolog/part06

Text File | 1992-06-18 | 43.8 KB | 818 lines

Newsgroups: comp.sources.misc
From: [e-mail] (Walter D. Pullen)
Subject:  v30i067:  astrolog - Generation of astrology charts v2.25, Part06/08
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
X-Md4-Signature: 6bce5ab885e83b1ea5d46e7e7f059739
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1992 20:03:51 GMT
Approved: [e-mail]

Submitted-by: [e-mail] (Walter D. Pullen)
Posting-number: Volume 30, Issue 67
Archive-name: astrolog/part06
Environment: UNIX, VMS
Supersedes: astrolog: Volume 28, Issue 104-109

#! /bin/sh
# This is a shell archive.  Remove anything before this line, then unpack
# it by saving it into a file and typing "sh file".  To overwrite existing
# files, type "sh file -c".  You can also feed this as standard input via
# unshar, or by typing "sh <file", e.g..  If this archive is complete, you
# will see the following message at the end:
#        "End of archive 6 (of 8)."
# Contents:  Helpfile.p2
# Wrapped by [e-mail] on Thu Jun 11 21:53:38 1992
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/ucb ; export PATH
if test -f 'Helpfile.p2' -a "${1}" != "-c" ; then
  echo shar: Will not clobber existing file \"'Helpfile.p2'\"
else
echo shar: Extracting \"'Helpfile.p2'\" \(42199 characters\)
sed "s/^X//" >'Helpfile.p2' <<'END_OF_FILE'
X----
X
XSwitches to access X window options:
X
X-X: Create a wheel or astro-graph bitmap of chart.
X
X  This is the general switch, which means display a chart in an X window
X  instead of on the screen in some form. For example, the command
X  'astrolog -i mychart -X' will open a new window and display the chart
X  in question in it. (Of course, all the other switches, e.g. -R, -c,
X  -1, etc, can be used to change what info is actually displayed.) If
X  you use the -L astro-graph switch in addition to this, the appropriate
X  astro*carto*graphy map will come up in a window instead of the earlier
X  boring list of longitudes. (e.g. astrolog -i me -X -L) The -Z and -g
X  switches will produce their own chart types as well, although, of
X  course, only one type of chart can be in a window at any given time.
X
X-Xb: Create X bitmap instead of putting graphics in window.
X
X  This switch will cause a standard X11 bitmap file to be produced
X  instead of putting the graphics in an actual window. This is useful if
X  you want to convert the graphics to different formats, e.g. so they
X  can be displayed on PC's, etc. Note that -Xb (or any other -X<letter>
X  switch) automatically assumes the -X switch above, so 'astrolog -i
X  file -Xb' is sufficient (and you don't also have to include the -X).
X
X-XB: Display X chart on root instead of in a separate window.
X
X  This switch will cause the chart graphics to be displayed directly on
X  the root window. This action occurs very quickly since the program
X  does not have to write a separate bitmap file and call xsetroot -bitmap
X  on it (although one could easily do this if they want to). For example,
X  one could put the line 'astrolog -n -XB' in their .xsession file
X  and whenever they log in, their background will be set to a chart of
X  the current state of the planets!
X
X-Xm: For color monitors, display charts in black and white.
X
X  For color X systems, the -Xm switch will create all windows in
X  monochrome B/W mode.
X
X-Xr: Create window or bitmap in reversed colors (B on W).
X
X  Normally the charts comes up white on a black background. To get the
X  chart or bitmap displayed in reverse video (black on white), use this
X  -Xr switch.
X
X-Xw <hor> [<ver>]: Change the size of the chart window.
X
X  The default window size is 600x600. This can be changed with the -Xw
X  switch. -Xw with one argument n will make an n by n window; -Xw with
X  two arguments x and y will make an x by y window with the chart
X  centered in the middle. Note that this switch will not affect
X  astro-graph or aspect grid windows; to change the size of these use
X  -Xs below.
X
X-Xs <percentage>: Change the size of characters by n%.
X
X  Note that the size of the planet and sign glyphs don't change when you
X  change the size of the window. This can cause problems for very small
X  windows where the glyphs overlap the rest of the chart and for very
X  large windows where there is lots of excess space. The -Xs switch can
X  be used to change the size of all glyphs. The valid values that can be
X  passed to it are 100, 200, and 300, where 200 is the default. Note
X  that this switch is used to change the size of the astro-graph (and
X  aspect grid) windows (because the world map is considered to be one
X  giant glyph by the program.)
X
X-Xi: Display chart in slightly modified form.
X
X  Certain people have asked that some of the X charts be modified in
X  various minor ways, i.e. in either adding or removing certain
X  information. Rather than add a new hard to remember minor option for
X  each change, I have added one major new switch which covers all the
X  charts. The new -Xi switch will invoke this "induce/inhibit
X  information" option, and pressing the 'i' key in a window will
X  accomplish the same thing by toggling the mode's status. By default,
X  all the charts are as before, but when this bonus option is set, it
X  affects each X window chart in a different way, as follows:
X
X o For the standard -v and relationship -r0 -v wheel charts, it will
X   inhibit the display of the aspect grid in the center - useful for
X   speed or when doing large time lapse animations when it would get in
X   the way.
X
X o For the -g aspect grid, it will flip the aspects and midpoints across
X   the center diagonal, i.e. the midpoints will be below it and the
X   aspects above it, instead of the other way around. For the -r0 -g
X   relationship aspect grid, the entire grid will be replaced with one
X   showing all midpoints between all the objects in the two charts.
X
X o For the -Z horizon chart and -S space chart, it will, for the major
X   planets, increase the size of the "points" showing where each object
X   actually is, making a brighter "spot", for easier viewing; combine
X   this in the horizon chart with the 'l' key label inhibitor and get a
X   very realistic view of the night sky, with planets brighter and all.
X
X o For the -L astro-graph chart, this will eliminate the display of the
X   Ascendant, Descendant, and Nadir lines, leaving just the vertical
X   Midheaven lines and zenith points, for a remarkable increase in speed
X   and much less clutter when including many objects.
X
X o For the -XW world map display, this will show the Earth's ley line
X   locations by drawing them on top of the map. Familiar with ley lines?
X   They are lines of energy crossing the Earth. I was experimenting
X   earlier with the master ley line grids on the Earth (in the pattern of
X   an overlapped 20 sided Icosahedron and 12 sided Dodecahedron) and I
X   figured Astrolog with its world map would be an interesting program to
X   explore this with. Actually this is mainly a hack, and belongs more to
X   the field of dowsing than to astrology, but I figured I would leave it
X   in there for amusement and inspiration. (Hackers note: there is an
X   interesting "bug" that can arise with the -XW as well as the -XG (and
X   -XP, described below) switches: These displays can be brought up in a
X   window without having to specify an actual chart. Now suppose one
X   presses 'C', 'W', etc. to bring up a chart - what will be displayed?
X   The answer will be whatever default values were already there, and if
X   you're curious, it's set to be the program author's own natal chart:
X   Nov 19, 1971 11:01am PDT (-8:00 GMT) Seattle, WA 122W20, 47N36.)
X
X o For the -XP polar globe view, this will show the southern hemisphere
X   instead of the northern.
X
X o For the -XG globe display, it will display the zenith locations of all
X   planets (and stars if -U in effect) on the globe, i.e. where on the
X   Earth each object could be viewed by looking straight up. This on the
X   globe display is almost identical to the astro-graph chart without its
X   various lines, except of course that the projection of the world map
X   is different. It's also similar to the -Z horizon display, except that
X   it's free from the distortion of projecting the celestial sphere upon
X   a plane, so it has use to star gazers. However, animation mode here
X   will still only affect what part of the Earth is viewable, and won't
X   update the chart from which the zenith locations were obtained.
X
X-XT: Inhibit display of chart info at bottom of window.
X
X  Normally, at the bottom of any chart window is printed some header
X  information listing the date, time, and location of the chart in
X  question. One can inhibit this display by specifying the -XT switch.
X
X-XW: Simply create the bitmap of the world.
X
X  Believe it or not, I painstakingly entered the data for the world map
X  used by the program by hand using an Atlas during a long week. If you
X  just want to see the map of the world by itself without any
X  astro-graph lines on it, use the -XW switch.
X
X-XP: Create the bitmap of the world, but as a polar projection.
X
X  The -XP option will generate a polar view of the Earth as a globe.
X  This is like the -XG globe option except that the view is always from
X  the top (or bottom). By default, the view is looking down on the north
X  pole with 0 deg W/E toward the bottom of the screen. (Animation mode
X  will cause the view to spin about the center of the screen.) To see a
X  view of the south pole hemisphere, go into the bonus information mode
X  described above ('i' key). Again, like with all the other X window
X  display modes, one can enter this display with a keystroke: press 'P'
X  in any Astrolog window and it will revert to this display.
X
X-XG [<degrees>]: Display the bitmap of the world as a globe.
X
X  Once we have the data for the map of the world, there are
X  several neat things we can do with it; for instance, with a little
X  trigonometry and clipping, we can bring up a view of a globe, which
X  is what the -XG switch does. An optional argument will specify a
X  rotation value in degrees to display different parts of the globe.
X  (The globe seems to look best for a -Xw window size of around 350.)
X
X-Xn: Start up chart or globe display in animation mode.
X
X  The -Xn [<value>] option can be used to start up an X window in
X  animation mode. It a window, one would have to explicitly press 'N' or
X  a shift+number key to start the window animation. Without a parameter
X  after -Xn, the option will start it up in continuous update to "now"
X  mode (which is like pressing 'N' in that any chart will be erased with
X  the current chart now.) The switch can accept parameters from 1..9,
X  corresponding to the animation rates obtained by pressing shift 1..9
X  in the window, i.e. update whatever chart is passed to it seconds,
X  minutes, hours, days, months, years, etc. later each time.
X
X-Xo <file>: Write output bitmap to specified file.
X
X  This option is used in conjunction with the -Xb option, to specify the
X  name of the file to write the bitmap to.
X
X----
X
XAstrolog window keypress options (version 2.25):
X
XPress 'H' to display this list of key options.
X
X  The most important key, of course. Pressing this will display a help
X  list of all the key presses available in the text screen from which
X  the window was invoked from.
X
XPress 'p' to toggle pause status on or off.
X
X  Press this to pause all updates to the window. This is mainly used to
X  freeze any animation (see below) but also has an effect even on
X  'still' windows. Key presses will still be accepted in pause mode but
X  their effects won't be apparent until one presses 'p' again to
X  continue. This can be used to temporarily freeze a chart in animation
X  so that it can be looked at without interruption.
X
XPress 'x' to toggle fg/bg colors in window.
X
X  Pressing this will invert the colors in the window, or in other
X  words will do the same thing as the -Xr switch on the command line.
X
XPress 'm' to toggle color/monochrome display in window.
X
X  For color displays, pressing this key will toggle in and out of
X  monochrome mode.
X
XPress 'T' to toggle header info on current chart in window.
X
X  Pressing the 'T' key will toggle whether or not the chart parameters
X  are printed at the bottom of the window. This corresponds to the -XT
X  switch mentioned earlier.
X
XPress 'i' to toggle status of the minor chart modification.
X
X  Pressing this key will toggle whether or not an alternate form of the
X  present chart should be displayed. See the -Xi switch described
X  earlier for more information on these alternate chart formats.
X
XPress 'l' to toggle labeling of object points in chart.
X
X  Press the 'l' key in a window to inhibit the labeling of all planets
X  in the various charts. Instead of drawing the little point and then
X  the glyph near it, just the point is displayed. This mode is mainly
X  useful for the -Z horizon and -S space charts (and has little use for
X  anything else) when in cramped quarters or to get a more realistic
X  view of how the sky actually looks.
X
XPress 'v' to display current chart in window on text screen.
X
X  Press this key to dump back to the text screen the list of where all
X  the planets currently being displayed in the window are. This display
X  is the same as produced with the -v switch, and is useful if one wants
X  text to show where everything in the chart is.
X
XPress 'R' to toggle restriction status of minor objects.
X
X  Press the 'R' (restrict) key in an Astrolog X window and the screen
X  will be redrawn with the restriction status of these asteroids and
X  other minors toggled.
X
XPress 'C' to toggle restriction status of minor house cusps.
XPress 'u' to toggle restriction status of uranian planets.
XPress 'U' to toggle restriction status of fixed stars.
X
X  Pressing the 'C', 'u', and 'U' keys in the window will toggle the
X  restriction status of the four minor house cusps, the uranian planets,
X  and the fixed stars, respectively. These keys compliment the 'R' key
X  option already in place, and are the counterparts to the -C, -u, -U,
X  and -RC, -Ru, -RU options.
X
XPress 's', 'h', 'f', 'F' to toggle status of siderial zodiac,
Xheliocentric charts, domal charts, and decan charts.
X
X  Press the 's' key in the window to toggle whether or not the siderial
X  vs. tropical zodiac is used. Press the 'h' key to toggle to a
X  heliocentric based chart or back again to a geocentric one. Press the
X  'f' key to toggle the status of whether or not the chart should be
X  modified to correspond to the appropriate domal chart (where the house
X  positions are represented as zodiac positions and vice versa). Press
X  the 'F' key to toggle the status of whether or not the chart should be
X  modified to correspond to a decan chart (where each sign is divided in
X  thirds representing the two other signs in its element). These keys of
X  course correspond the the -s, -h, -f, and -3 options, respectively.
X
XPress 'O' and 'o' to recall/store a previous chart from memory.
X
X  Have you ever animated your natal or some other chart to some far
X  distant future or past time, only then to wish you could somehow
X  easily get back in time to the original chart? You can, by pressing
X  the 'O' key in a window, which will recall to the screen previously
X  "saved" chart parameters (which are by default set to whatever you
X  started the window with.) Press the 'o' key to change this default
X  stored chart to be the chart that is presently in the window.
X
XPress 'B' to dump current window contents to root background.
X
X  Press the 'B' key in an X window to dump whatever is currently being
X  displayed to the background root window. This is basically the
X  corresponding keypress to the -XB option.
X
XPress 'Q' to resize wheel chart display to a square.
X
X  One can manually resize the Astrolog windows using a window manager
X  (except when a world map or aspect grid is displayed, in which case
X  any resizing will have no effect). Pressing the 'Q' key will
X  automatically resize any (non-world map) window to be a square. This
X  is useful, after resizing charts to approximately the size you want,
X  to make them precise squares.
X
XPress '<' and '>' to decrease/increase the scale size of the
Xglyphs and the size of world map.
X
X  This two keys will respectively decrease and increase the size of the
X  sign and planet glyphs (as well as resize the astro-graph and aspect
X  grid charts) through the three scale factors available. After resizing
X  the window, you will probably want to use these keys if the glyphs are
X  then too big or small for the new chart.
X
XPress '[' and ']' to decrease/increase tilt in globe display.
X
X  '[', ']' keys: Not only can the globe display be rotated, but the
X  poles can be now tilted down at various angles! (This basically makes
X  the -XP polar globe view option obsolete; it's still in there only for
X  backwards compatibility.) Press the '[' and ']' keys when the globe is
X  being displayed to respectively "pull down" and "push back up" the
X  angle of the polar axis from which the globe is viewed.  Combining
X  this with the globe rotation allows one to move any point of the globe
X  to the center of the screen.
X
XPress 'N' to toggle animation status on or off.
X
X  Animation! This key will toggle in and out of a mode where the chart
X  is continually updated in the window. Entering the animation mode
X  will cause the chart being currently displayed to be replaced by the
X  chart for the exact moment at the time you are running the program.
X  Every second or two, the chart will be updated to reflect the new
X  current state of the planets and houses. For large window sizes, one
X  can actually see very minor changes in the chart every few seconds.
X  With the text 'T' mode in effect, the chart is basically an advanced
X  version of xclock, and makes a good window to be left running on
X  your display. If you are in the -XG globe display mode, pressing
X  the 'N' key will cause the globe to rotate for an impressive display!
X
XPress '!'-'(' to begin updating current chart by adding times.
X!: seconds, @: minutes, #: hours, $: days, : months,
X^: years, &: years*10, *: years*100, (: years*1000.
X
X  These nine keys (i.e. shift plus the number keys from 1..9) enter
X  into a different form of chart animation. Pressing them will cause the
X  current chart being displayed (i.e. it will not revert to the current
X  planet positions) to continually have a delta time added to it and be
X  recast and shown. Pressing '!' will have one second added to the chart
X  for every update (slow action unless you have a very fast system - the
X  animation will be even slower than for the 'N' key). Pressing '@' will
X  have one minute added to the chart each time, which makes for a nice
X  display (note that you will definitely want to be in the text 'T' mode
X  for these animations so you can see what times in the future these
X  charts are being cast for. Pressing '#" will have one hour added each
X  time (note that now the house cusps are starting to move quickly, so
X  you may want to switch to a different system of houses (such as the
X  Equal to keep the Midheaven from flopping back and forth) and/or use
X  -1 to put an object like the sun on the Ascendant.) Pressing '$' will
X  have one day added each time (now you will probably want to start
X  using -R to remove fast moving objects like the moon), and pressing
X  '%' will have one month added for each update of the window. The
X  final keys, shift 6..9 cause years, decades, centuries, and millenia
X  to be added each time, and tend to only be used to look for long range
X  actions (when will Neptune next enter Pisces, etc.) To exit these
X  animation modes, press the 'N' key.
X
XPress 'r' to reverse direction of time-lapse or animation.
X
X  Press this to reverse the direction of any animation taking
X  place. For the '!'..'(' animation keys above, this will cause
X  negative times to be added to the chart, e.g. pressing '#'
X  then 'r' on a chart cast for noon will cause the next chart to
X  be displayed for 11am, then 10am, etc. For the Globe animation,
X  this will cause the rotation to reverse direction.
X
XPress '1'-'9' to set rate of animation to 'n' degrees, etc.
X
X  The nine number keys are used to set the relative "rate" of
X  animation to "n" whatevers. For example, normally the "@" key means
X  add one minute to the chart for each update, but press "5" and now
X  we are adding 5 minutes each time. For the Globe animation,
X  by default the Earth rotates one degree each time; however, the
X  number keys can speed this up to nine degrees for each update.
X
XPress 'V','L','A','Z','S','W','G','P' to switch to normal (-v),
Xastrograph (-L), grid (-g), local (-Z), space (-S),
Xworld (-XW), globe (-XG), and polar (-XP) modes.
X
X  There are basically eight main modes in which a window can be in:
X  There are the five main charts (wheel, astro-graph, aspect grids,
X  local sky, and space view) as well as the three world displays (the
X  simple map by itself, the globe view, and the polar projection). These
X  eight keys can be used to switch between these eight modes in the
X  middle of program execution. For example, you can bring up your own
X  chart in a window, then press 'L' to see the astro-graph chart for the
X  same birth data. Then you can press 'W' to just see the world map by
X  itself, and 'G' to see the globe view, after which you can press 'V'
X  to return to your original wheel chart.
X
XPress 'q' to terminate the window and program.
X
X  Pressing this key will terminate the window (and the Astrolog
X  program itself.)
X
X----
X
XLeft   mouse button: Draw lines on chart in window.
XMiddle mouse button: Print coordinates of pointer on world map.
XRight  mouse button: Terminate the window and program.
X
X  Mouse buttons: Pressing the mouse buttons in the X windows will do
X  various functions. The left mouse button acts as a pen that allows one
X  to actually draw on the chart: press it and drag the pointer to draw a
X  line on the window - good for aiding in analysis or in presentations.
X  (Any scribbles one makes will disappear the next time the chart window
X  is updated, therefore drawing will have little effect when in
X  animation mode.) The middle mouse button will only work when the world
X  map is shown, i.e. in the -L astrograph or -XW world map displays:
X  press it and get the approximate longitude and latitude of the place
X  on the map where the pointer is. For the three scale sizes of 100,
X  200, and 300 percent, the accuracy is to the nearest degree, 30', and
X  20', respectively. So, if you want to cast a chart for southern
X  Madagascar, Africa, but don't know the coordinates, click the middle
X  button on the map for a good approximation! Finally, the right button
X  acts just like the 'q' key, and will terminate the window.
X
X
X******************************
XTHE DISPLAY AND OTHER FEATURES
X******************************
X
XThe main part of the program is executed simply by entering "astrolog"
X(assuming that's the name of the executable), and the program will ask
Xyou for all the birth info and will give the planet/house positions.
X(e.g. for here in Seattle right now for the seven prompts I would
Xenter [for June 11th, 1992 AD at 10:22pm, with daylight time in effect
X- if daylight time were *not* in effect, I would have entered 22.22
Xfor the fourth value instead]: 6; 11; 1992; 21.22; 122.20; 47.36) The
Xprogram then calculates and displays the positions of all planets,
XChiron, the four main asteroids, as well as stuff like the Part of
XFortune and the Vertex. (The Uranian bodies and fixed stars can also
Xbe listed if one includes the appropriate command switches described
Xearlier.)
X
XInformation in addition to the above planet positions are shown in the
Xmain display when the chart is cast: (1) Whether or not each planet is
Xin it's ruling sign, or fall, as well as displaying the same
Xinformation for ruling or debilitating houses. (2) The sum of the
Xsigns in each element and mode and their totals is displayed in a grid
Xform. Also, planets in their exalted and debilitated signs are noted.
XIn addition to the (R) indicating a planet in it's ruling sign, and an
X(F) for a planet in it's fall, we have (e) if a planet is in its
Xexalting sign, and a (d) for a planet in its debilitating sign (which
Xis always opposite the exaltation, as how the fall is opposite the
Xruler).
X
XThis standard chart listing of the planetary positions includes an
Xadditional field for the "velocity" of each planet. This velocity
Xvalue approximates how fast the planet is moving through the zodiac
Xwith respect to the Earth (or whatever the central body is set to) in
Xdegrees per day. This value of course, goes negative when a planet
Xgoes retrograde. This is useful not only to get a feel for how fast
Xeach planet moves through the zodiac, but to determine when a planet
Xis about to go retrograde or direct - the value approaches zero when
Xthe planet changes direction.
X
XAlso in the main display, the total number of planets in each of the
Xhemispheres of the wheel, as well the number of objects in
Xpositive/masculine and negative/feminine quality signs, are counted.
XTo the right of the element table, we have a column of six numbers
Xlabeled as follows: "+" is the number of "positive" objects (i.e. in
XFire or Air signs); "-" is the number of "negative" objects (i.e. in
XWater or Earth signs); "M" is the number of objects above the horizon
X(i.e. in the hemisphere of the Midheaven); "N" is the number of
Xobjects below the horizon (in the hemisphere of the Nadir); "A" is the
Xnumber of objects in the Eastern half of the sky (in the hemisphere of
Xthe Ascendant); and "D" is the number of objects in the Western half
Xof the sky (in the hemisphere of the Descendant).
X
X--
X
XAstrolog includes the ability to search an input file for various
Xdefault parameters to use in the program. This allows one to easily
Xchange major defaults without having to recompile the program, which
Xis useful if, say, one receives a compiled executable from a friend
Xwho had a different configuration. The program looks for the file
X"astrolog.dat" in the current directory, and if not there, looks for
Xit in the default directory. Parameters in this file will override any
Xdefaults compiled into the program, although the highest priority is
Xstill given to the command line options. Note one doesn't *have* to
Xhave this file in order to run the program - if not found Astrolog
Xwill still run as before. Presently, the parameters one can change in
Xthis file are: default time zone (as indicated with -z option),
Xdefault longitude and latitude (as in -l option), number of aspects
X(-A option), default house system to use (values as in -c option).
XThen come default restriction values (as with -R option) for the first
X20 objects (0 = active, 1 = restricted). Next are the orbs (as with
X-Ao option) for the 18 aspects. Finally, comes a long list of the
Xinfluence values used by the -I option, i.e. the power values of each
Xof the first 20 planet objects, of the 12 houses, and of the 18
Xaspects. The only major thing that one *can't* change in the file is
Xthe default directory path in which the program looks in for input
Xfiles if not in the current directory, since Astrolog needs the
Xdefault directory in order to be able to locate the file in the first
Xplace! The "astrolog.dat" file included with this version of the
Xprogram has some "comment lines" describing what is contained in each
Xline. One can chance or delete comments as long as they make sure that
Xan equals sign ('=') immediately proceeds any value or list of values,
Xsince the program uses this character to determine where comments end.
X
X--
X
XI often use Astrolog to look at and compare files containing charts of
Xvarious people. I have many chart files, so I keep them in a separate
Xdirectory. Since it is always a pain to have to cd into this special
Xdirectory all the time, there is a DEFAULT_DIR string to be set at
Xcompile time. Whenever the program reads in a chart file with the -i
Xoption, it will first look in the current directory for it. If it's
Xnot found there, Astrolog will then look for a file of the same name
Xin the special default directory.
X
XA couple of people have e-mailed me saying that their computer (for
Xexample, Mac's) won't accept command switches on the command line
X(like they boot Astrolog from a menu for instance.) Therefore, they
Xaren't able to access many features in the normal way. If this is the
Xcase with your system (or if you just don't like command line
Xoptions), then comment out the '#define SWITCHES' line at the
Xbeginning of the astrolog.h file. If you do this, then the program
Xwill ignore any switches and prompt you to enter them manually at the
Xvery beginning of program execution.
X
XA couple of other compile time option variables are in the include
Xfile astrolog.h: For those people who don't like Placidus, a default
Xhouse system can be set by changing the value of DEFAULT_SYSTEM to the
Xvalue from 0..9 indicating what system to use if the user doesn't
Xexplicitly specify it with -c. Another thing: It should be mentioned
Xthat although the accuracy of Sun..Pluto, Chiron, and the Uranians are
Xto the nearest minute (for years 1900-2000), the four asteroids are
Xrelatively inaccurate and can even be a couple of degrees off in the
Xworst case. Also, some people just don't like or care about those
Xminor bodies and think that they clutter up the various charts. If you
Xdon't want the values of the asteroids, Chiron, Part of Fortune, and
Xthe Vertex to appear in the program by default, there is a #define in
Xastrolog.h called ASTEROIDS that can be commented out so that it will
Xbe as if -R is always included when the program is run. (Simply do -R
Xto get them *back* if you compile it this way.) Or better yet, change
Xthe default restrictions to your preference by editing the
Xastrolog.dat default parameter file described above.
X
XNote for PC users: I have tried to make this program as much
Xexecutable on personal computers and other non-unix systems as
Xpossible. Although this version should be easier to compile than
Xprevious ones were, still there are probably some things I've
Xforgotten or left out. Another warning for PC users: You will probably
Xwant to change the value of DIVISIONS in astrolog.h from its current
Xvalue of 24 to a lower value like 6 or so.  Leaving it as is invoked
Xcomplaints of extreme slowness and occasional multiple hits in the -d
Xaspect search routine, where the same aspect would get listed more
Xthan once.
X
X
X********************************
XDESCRIPTION OF X WINDOW FEATURES
X********************************
X
XOne of the most impressive features of the program are the X windows
Xfeatures, which are generally accessed in the program via the -X
Xswitch and derivatives of it on the command line. There are five
Xdifferent types of chart displays: A standard graphic display of a
Xwheel chart in a window (with glyphs, aspects in the center, etc),
Xgraphic displays of the Astro-graph charts (which look almost
Xidentical to the astro*carto*graphy maps from Jim Lewis) complete with
Xall the labeled lines drawn on a map of the world (like the -L
Xoption), aspect/midpoint grids showing the aspects and orbs in effect
Xbetween every body in a chart (like -g option), a local sky chart
Xshowing where each planet is located on a map of the local horizon
Xarea (as in -Z), and a space chart showing an aerial view of the solar
Xsystem (as in -S). The X wheel and aspect grid charts can displayed
Xin a different form to accomodate relationship comparison charts.
XThere are also other commands that can be given to the window once it
Xis up and running, which can do other things, such as continually
Xupdate the window every few seconds to the current status (i.e. an
Xextended version of the -n option) as well as other forms of
Xanimation. Note that the program is still text based, and one can
Xeasily turn off all the X features by commenting out the #define X11
Xin astrolog.h if they don't have X windows.
X
XProbably the only thing more impressive than the X window features are
Xthe X window features displayed on color monitors. (The charts
Xdisplayed in color are *much* more eye catching than the B/W ones,
XIMHO.) Here is how the colors have been assigned for the various
Xcharts: Four colors have been allocated for the four elements - Fire =
XRed, Earth = Brown, Air = Green, Water = Blue. The various sign glyphs
X(and the corresponding house labels) are in the color of their
Xelement. Planets are in the color of the sign of their main ruler.
XChiron and the four asteroids are Gold, while the north node, and
Xother non-physical objects like the fortune and vertex are Violet.
XRepresentations of the Ascendant/ Descendant/ Midheaven/ Nadir (in the
Xastro-graph map lines and elsewhere) are in the element color of the
Xcorresponding sign/house that the angular lines refer to, i.e.
XAscendant = Red, Midheaven = Brown, Descendant = Green, Nadir = Blue.
XA few extra things have been added for color wheel charts only: dark
Xgray lines marking off each house (in addition to the main lines on
Xthe horizon and meridian), and each degree instead of every 5th degree
Xbeing marked in dark gray on the outer circle (every 5th degree being
Xwhite). Aspects lines are colored too, as follows: Conjunctions =
XYellow, Sextiles = Light Blue, Squares = Red, Trines = Green,
XOppositions = Dark Blue. For the minor aspects we have:
XInconjuncts/Semisextiles = Brown, Semisquares/ Sesquiquadratures =
XOrange, (Bi/Semi)Quintiles = Violet, (Bi/Tri)Septiles = Gold,
X(Bi/Quatro)Noviles = Pink.
X
XThe X wheel charts have their graphic information organized as
Xfollows: There's an outer circle showing the signs and sign glyphs,
Xinside of which is a smaller circle divided up into 5 degree
Xincrements to make determining exact degrees easier. Inside of this is
Xa circle divided up into the 12 houses labeled with numbers. The
Xentire chart is divided by two dashed lines through the Ascendant/
XDescendant (which is always horizontal of course) and the
XMidheaven/Nadir. Inside the house circle are the planet glyphs in
Xtheir appropriate positions. Small pointer lines run from each glyph
Xto just before single dots. These dots indicate the precise locations
Xin the zodiac of each object. The pointer lines (which are dashed if
Xthe object is retrograde and solid otherwise) are necessary so as not
Xto have to draw planet glyphs on top of one another when planets are
Xconjunct. Inside the ring of the single dots, are the aspect lines
Xconnecting these positions. Since the default number of aspects to use
Xis just the 5 majors, one can determine which aspect is in place just
Xby looking at the aspect line. The accuracy of the aspect is
Xdetermined by the dashedness of the line: A solid line means the orb
Xis < 2 degrees; a dashed line means the orb is < 4 degrees; a really
Xdashed line mean the orb is < 6 degrees, etc.
X
XThe X astro-graph charts are organized as follows: A map of the world
Xis shown. The edges of the map are labeled with ruler lines that are 5
Xdegrees apart (with longer ruler lines for more important longitudes
Xand latitudes, like those that are multiples of 10, 30, etc.) The
Xequator is labeled with a dashed line. The polar regions of the world
Xaren't shown; the map shown ranges from 60 degrees S latitude to 75
Xdegrees N latitude. Note that each pixel on the screen represents
Xexactly one half a degree on the world. (For -Xs 100 the ratio is one
Xpixel to one degree, and for -Xs 300 the ratio is one pixel to 1/3
Xdegree.) On this map are drawn the lines indicating where on the world
Xthe various planets are angular at the time in question. (Note: you
Xmight want to -R restrict some objects because otherwise the map tends
Xto get pretty cluttered with lines.) As expected, Midheaven and Nadir
Xlines are vertical, and the Ascendant and Descendant lines are curved.
XLittle square boxes on the Midheaven lines indicate the exact zenith
Xlatitude location. Each line is labeled at the top or the bottom of
Xthe screen, showing what planet is in question and (sometimes) what
Xangle is in question. All Ascendant and Midheaven lines are labeled
Xat the bottom of the screen, and all Descendant and Nadir lines are
Xlabeled at the top. Each line goes a bit beyond to the top or bottom
Xof the world map, and then another pointer segment (which is again
Xdashed of the object in question is retrograde) goes and points to the
Xplanet glyph. There is a capital "A" or "M" under each of the glyphs
Xat the bottom of the screen, explicitly indicating whether the line is
Xan Ascendant or Midheaven line. At the top of the screen, however,
Xthere are only the glyphs, but one can still determine whether these
Xlines are Descendant or Nadir lines based on whether they are curved
Xor not. Note that not all the Descendant lines are labeled; this is
Xbecause some of the Ascendant/Descendant lines actually connect near
Xthe top of the screen and don't actually cross it.
X
XAspect grid windows with the appropriate aspect glyphs can be
Xdisplayed by combining the -g option with the -X option (astrolog -g
X-X). Both the split aspect/midpoint grids labeled down the diagonal,
Xas well as the relationship aspect grids between two charts (astrolog
X-r <file1> <file2> -g -X) are supported. The aspects glyphs, objects,
Xand the signs in the grids are in their colors as defined earlier.
XLike the astro-graph windows, these charts can't be resized in the
Xnormal way unless one uses the '>' and '<' keys. For anything less
Xthan the largest scale size (achieved with the switch -Xs 300, or by
Xpressing '>' within a window) all that will be displayed in each
Xaspect grid cell is the glyphs of the aspect in effect, the planet
Xbeing aspected, or the sign of the midpoint. However, once the largest
Xscale size is reached, there is room in each cell to display the
Xaspect orb to the nearest minute off of exact (with a plus or minus
Xsign indicating whether the actual angle is slightly greater than or
Xless than exact); the degree and minute in addition to the sign for
Xmidpoints; and the degree and sign location for each planet that's in
Xthe grid. Remember, the ASCII aspect grids in the text options are
Xrather limited, only displaying orbs to the nearest 0.1 degree,
Xmidpoints to the nearest degree, as well as the confusing '.' vs. ','
Xfor angles slightly greater or less than exact (not to mention leaving
Xthe vertex out for the relationship grids between two charts). Well no
Xlonger: with X11, we can see *real* aspect grids with Astrolog!
X
XThe -Z local horizon feature can be displayed in an X window as well
X(e.g. astrolog -Z -X), in which all the planets will be displayed in a
Xwindow depicting the sky. The small dot above or below each glyph
Xindicates exactly where each planet is. (Some of the glyphs may be
Xoverlapping, although the program tries to cut down on this.) There
Xis a horizontal line dividing the window representing the local
Xhorizon; planets above this line are visible, while planets below it
Xare set. There are three vertical lines dividing the window as well:
XThe middle line represents the due south direction, the one to the
Xleft is due east, the one to the right is due west, and the edges of
Xthe window are due north. Like the standard chart display, this window
Xmay be resized to any proportion. One can press the 'Z' key in any
Xwindow to enter this display type in that window at any time.
X
XThe -S switch can be combined with -X to give an X window chart of the
Xsolar system. This will be displayed as an aerial view of the entire
Xsolar system, with 0 degrees Aries to the left of the screen, and 0
Xdegrees Cancer to the bottom. Note that this chart includes all
Xpossible planets, including the Earth (whose glyph is a cross inside a
Xcircle). Whatever object is chosen to be the central body is at the
Xcenter of the screen, with all the others around it. This is a fun
Xchart to animate - watch the planets go around the Sun, and *see* how
Xthey turn retrograde with respect to the Earth. In addition to the
Xbodies themselves, twelve spokes are drawn from the center body to the
Xedge of the screen, which delineate the zodiac with respect to it.
XNote that the scale of the solar system is large; attempting to fit
Xall the planets out to Pluto on the screen at once will cause all the
Xinner planets to be crammed together near the middle of the screen. To
Xdeal with this, the scale size as indicated with the -Xs switch and
Xthe '<' and '>' keys will affect how much of the solar system is
Xviewed at once (in addition to the glyph sizes). For a scale size of
X300, the viewport will have a radius of 6 AU (about out to the orbit
Xof Jupiter; useful for viewing the inner planets). For a scale size of
X200 (default), it will have a radius of 30 AU (enough to include
XNeptune, and Pluto most of the time). Finally, a scale size of 100
Xwill result in a radius of 90 AU, enough to easily include the entire
Xsolar system, as well as the orbits of the alleged Uranian bodies
Xbeyond Pluto.
X
XTrue relationship wheel charts can be displayed in a window, i.e.
Xwhere the planets of both charts are displayed in separate rings of
Xthe same wheel. Use the -r0 option to display this comparison type.
XFor example, for the command "astrolog -r0 person1 person2 -X", the
Xfollowing is displayed: The signs and houses as in person1's chart are
Xdrawn in the outermost part of the wheel. Inside this is a ring of
Xperson2's planets as displayed in person1's houses, and inside of this
Xare person1's own planets. Finally at the very middle is an aspect
Xgrid, which shows those aspects that are occurring between the objects
Xin the two charts. Basically this is just the standard wheel chart for
Xperson1, except that person2's planets are in an outer ring of objects
Xand the aspect grid shows the aspects of the relationship. Putting
Xsuch a chart in animation mode only affects person2's planets, so this
Xis a great way to analyze transits: Doing "astrolog -t yourchartfile
X-X" will show all your current transits, and allow you to easily
Xanimate the transiting planets through your natal signs and houses.
X
XFor color X terminals, the -XG globe display and -XW world map display
Xare done with the continents in different colors! This makes them look
Xmuch better than monochrome maps. Each of the seven continents is in a
Xdifferent color of the rainbow, and the colors are chosen to
Xcorrespond to the appropriate chakra (etheric energy vortex along the
Xhuman spine) that goes with each land mass.  They are: Africa - red -
XRoot chakra, Australia - orange - Navel chakra, South America - yellow
X- Solar plexus chakra, North America - green - Heart chakra, Europe -
Xblue - Throat chakra, Asia - indigo - Third Eye chakra, Antarctica -
Xviolet - Crown chakra. Major lakes are, of course, colored navy blue.
X
X--
X
XA couple of conveniences for the X window features exist. Note that
Xthe -Xo <bitmapfilename> option is only used in conjunction with the
X-Xb write output to bitmap switch. Therefore, -Xo automatically
Xassumes -Xb is set. (Invoking -Xb itself without -Xo will have the
Xprogram prompt the user for the bitmap filename.) In other words,
Xastrolog -Xb -Xo 'file' is the same as just astrolog -Xo 'file'. (This
Xmay change if I add other file types, but for now none are planned.)
XAlso, I should mention that Astrolog includes its own appropriate
Xbitmap (a rainbow over an opened Third Eye) if one iconifies the
Xwindow, instead of reverting to the braindead UnknownIcon :)
X
X-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
X|    Walter D. "Cruiser1" Pullen    |    [e-mail].    |
X-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
END_OF_FILE
if test 42199 -ne `wc -c <'Helpfile.p2'`; then
    echo shar: \"'Helpfile.p2'\" unpacked with wrong size!
fi
# end of 'Helpfile.p2'
fi
echo shar: End of archive 6 \(of 8\).
cp /dev/null ark6isdone
MISSING=""
for I in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ; do
    if test ! -f ark${I}isdone ; then
    MISSING="${MISSING} ${I}"
    fi
done
if test "${MISSING}" = "" ; then
    echo You have unpacked all 8 archives.
    echo "See the README file for further instructions."
    rm -f ark[1-9]isdone
else
    echo You still need to unpack the following archives:
    echo "        " ${MISSING}
fi
##  End of shell archive.
exit 0

exit 0 # Just in case...